Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-04-23

ger ovcrpast, the great mass unfold'
Is coils again and stretches out it,
huge proportions in progressive move
mcnt. The brain of this mighty ami
mai, the supreme mind that control,
us every motion, the general-in
chief.
As he rieds out of Atlanta on tina,
dark November day, the smoke of the
doomed city filing all the heavens
like a pail. we catch a glimps of the
general who has conceived and is about
to execute this desperate enterprise.
Born in 1920, he graduated at West
Point in 1910 in the same class with
Geo. II. Thomas and Richard 5. Ewell,
the latter holding high command in the
confederate army. Sherman was mt
this time in his forty-fifth year. A tall.
slim, iron-built figure, all nerve and
slnew, with not an ouncc Of flesh to
spare. A large head, long and conical.
with slanting brow, crossed and cut by
burrows, eyes of dark brown, hair the
same hue, cropped close, sandy beard
and mustache, a large mouth. with an
expression Of countenance kindly, even
humorous, but keen, anxious, vigilant
and suspicious. Such is the outward
and visible aspect of the '.Old Man"
as the soldiers called him. He
denies himself and his staff
every luxury. He has fewer
servants, fewer horses than the regu-
lations allow, and his staff is smaller
than that of a brigade commander. He
has reduced himself and every man
under him to fighting weight. The
army was divided for the march into
two wings, General Howard command
ing the right, General Slocum the left,
with General Fitzpatrick in command
OF the cavalry.
Milledgeville, the capital of the state,
was the first objective of the march.
distant southeast 100 miles. Here the
Georgia legislature was in session, end
here the Georgia militia, under General
Howell Cobb, was concentrating. Gayly
and with a free step, the troops full of
the confidence success inspires, swung
forward toward Mllledgville. Each
wing of the army was composed of two
corps, and the ordinary order of march
where practicable was by four roads,
as neatly parallel as possible. Each
column marched within supporting dis
lance of the others. The general COM
manding issued his orders indicating
generally the object to be accomplished
or the line to be followed. On the
subordinate commanders devolved the
task of carrying the orders out in detail.
In order to subsist supplies must be
gathered from the country passed over
and to this end each brigade had a
regularly organized foraging party.
whose business il was daily to gather
near the route travelled corn and for
.ge of any kind, meat, vegetable and
cornmeal, or whatever was needed by
the command, aiming at all times to keep
in the wagons ten days provisions
for the command and three days for
age. These foraging parties soon got
to be known rs Sherman's ..bummers"
and they achieved for themselves a bad
emineuce for conduct that can scarcely
be defended even under the rigorous
rules of war. The line between taking
for the army and stealing for ones self
ought to have been better marked than
it seems TO have been according to all
authentic accounts. Such acts as tax
ing the last chicken, the last pound of
meal, the last bit of bacon, the only re-
manning scraggy COW from a poor wo-
man and her flock of children were
looked upon as legitimate, and both
Grant and Sherman in their memoirs
have mentioned some such incidents,
not particularly to deplore them, but
rather as aflording opportunities of dis
playing the humorous and waggish
procliviiies Of the .'bummers." But
not food alone was taken. Crockery,
bed covering, clothes, were taken, and
as for plate, jewelly, and watches,
these were things rebels could have no
possible use for. Gardens and cellars
were ransacked and dug up for hidden
treasures, and old men were sometimes
tortured to make them confess where
their money was hid. A planters
house would be overrun in q moment,
boxes, bureaus, and drawers upset and
scare ed for spoil. If a sufficient
find was made, well and good, the
bummers marched off; but if not,
woe then to the furniture, pianos,
and mirrors. Everything was
smashed, and lucky for the house
holders if the house was not burned
down. Soldiers with pockets filled
with gold and silver, officers with
diamonds, mules and horses with trap
pings of brussels carpets and fine
chenille, negro wenches decked out in
silks and satiDs these were some of
the accomplishments Of Sherman's liv-
ing on the country. Robbing was
strictly prohibited, but it may have
been unavoidable. Ii certainly was not
punished with much severity.
One of Sherman's objects in the great
march was to destroy all warlike stores
and means of transport, including rail-
ways, bridges and canals, and this was
done with remarkable thoroughness.
Most of the march was made along the
lines of railroad. which were DESTROYED
as the troops advanced. The method
Of destruction was to burn and dig up
all the bridges and ~culverts, and tear